


Explosion + Reincarnation

by AnxietyIncarnate



Series: MacGyver and the alternate endings [1]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Reincarnation, just for fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-10 23:18:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20143636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnxietyIncarnate/pseuds/AnxietyIncarnate
Summary: Mac dies in an explosion, but he probably won’t stay dead for long





	1. Chapter 1

P.O.V MAC

Mac worked at the bomb, worry beginning to set into his mind. This bomb was proving to be very difficult to disarm, and he didn’t have much time left.

Jack was outside, trying to keep civilians as far away as possible, whilst also trying to keep an eye on Murdoc, who was of course, the one to set the damn thing.

Matty should have really sent more than just the two of them on this.

“Have you got it yet, Mac?” Jack’s voice sounded from outside

“Not quite Jack, but I think I-“ there was a blast of white, a loud noise, pain, and then nothing.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

P.O.V JACK

The explosion knocked him backwards, sending him to the ground.

“MAC!” He shouted, bolting towards the smouldering remains of the house. Panic growing inside him.  
“MAC CAN YOU HEAR ME?!”

He saw something red in the rubble. Macs knife. He picked it up, and continued searching.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

P.O.V MAC

Mac woke up, but it was a very different sort of waking up than he was used to. He was warm and comfortable and not quite right. He stretched and opened his eyes.

Those each told him two important things. First, that his limbs were not all where they were supposed to be, and second, he was not anywhere that he recognized. He tried stretching again, letting his arms and legs move how they wanted. His arms reached in front of him. His hands were... what happened to his fingers? He tried to look around the room he was in.

Turning was awkward, as his hips and shoulders weren’t moving correctly, but he managed it. What he saw took a few minutes to process, and brought more questions then answers.

There were six golden dogs. One mother, and five puppies. The puppies were all around him, and they were at least as big as he was. The mother was ginormous. Mac looked back down at his... paws. Well shit. He was a dog.

He tried to remember everything that had been going on when the explosion happened. Where had Jack been? How close had he been to the explosion? He wouldn’t have waited too close by. But if he was alive, he would be freaking out about Mac right now. There was no good outcome in this.

What could he possibly do? He was a dog. A puppy. He didn’t know where he was.

_Come on, Mac. Think. What can you use?_

There, by the window, was a chair. If he could get up there, he would be able to see outside, and hopefully get an idea of where the hell he was.

He stumbled awkwardly toward the chair, tripping over his paws.

When he reached the chair, he paused, wondering briefly how on earth he was supposed to get up there, before backing up, and taking a leap of faith.  
His front half landed on the seat of the chair, he had to scramble to pull himself up.

He would’ve made it to, but suddenly he felt himself being lifted into the air by the scruff of his neck. The mother dog, was she his mother now too? Was carrying him back towards the bed where all of the other puppies were.

She set him down, giving him a look that said ‘be more careful’ before she turned and trotted out of the room.

He huffed in frustration, and would have tried again, but he was immediately tackled by one of the other puppies.

_So this is what it’s like to have siblings._ He thought, as the bigger puppy began to chew on his ear. _God I hate having siblings _

——————————————————————————————————————————

It was now dark, his mother and siblings were all sleeping, and he saw it as his chance.  
He stood, and slowly made his way to the edge of the room, careful to make as little noise as possible.

Mac looked behind him once more, making sure they were all still asleep before leaving the room. He nudged the door with his nose, managing to close it.  
Turning to face the new room he was in, he tried to think of what he could use.  
There was another chair, and the front door looked easy enough to open...

He sprung into motion, moving quickly to the chair, he began to nudge it.  
Thankfully, the chair was fairly light, and it slid easily across the hardwood floor

It took a few minutes, but soon enough, the chair was pressed up against the door.  
Mac stepped back, and leapt once more, scrambling to pull himself up.

The front doors handle, thankfully, was the kind you just push down to open.  
He stretched up on his back legs, and pressed his paws down onto the handle, pushing forward slightly at the same time.

The door swung gently open, he hopped off the chair onto the porch outside, once again, nudging the door shut behind him, then ran down towards the road.

He was relieved to find that he was familiar with the area. He was still in LA.  
He turned, and began running down the sidewalk as fast as his little puppy legs would carry him.

——————————————————————————————————————————  
P.O.V JACK

Jack stared at the pocketknife in his hands, the only thing that they had been able to recover from that god-forsaken house. He was vaguely aware of people talking, but didn’t have the heart to listen.

Mac, who had survived so much, who had always defied the odds, always made it out of impossible situations, was dead.

He didn’t want to believe it.

“-ack are you even listening?” Matty sounded upset, and frustrated. Weren’t they all?  
Jack shook his head, but met her gaze.

“We...we need to start thinking about...a funeral”

Jack shook his head, standing up, and turning to leave the war room.  
“I can’t...I can’t do this right now. I’m going home”

Matty didn’t try to stop him.

——————————————————————————————————————————

It was several hours later when he actually arrived home, having gone to a bar, hoping that he’d be able to forget it all, at least for a little while.

It didn’t work.

He was walking towards his apartment door, when he froze.  
There, sitting next to his door, was a golden retriever puppy.  
It looked at him, and yipped happily, it’s tail wagging wildly in excitement.  
He bent down to be at a closer level to the dog, reaching out and scratching behind its ears  
“Hey, little guy. What’re you doing here?” He murmured gently.  
The puppy placed one front paw on Jacks knee, and batted at his chest with the other.

“You came to see me?” He asked softly, and was surprised when it seemed to bark in affirmation. Jack chuckled, forgetting about his grief for the moment.  
He stood and opened the door, the puppy darted inside, and Jack, shaking his head in amusement, followed it in.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The dog, Jack discovered, was a boy. He didn’t have a collar, and so, Jack decided to keep him.

The dog seemed highly receptive, and very intelligent. Doing tricks like Sit, lay down, and roll over almost perfectly on the first try.

He wouldn’t do ‘Stay’ though.

The dog reminded him of Mac, a little bit actually.

“So what should I call you? Bruce Willis?” Jack asked the puppy  
The dog looked at him, and made a noise that jack swore sounded like puppy disapproval.  
Jack chuckled “ok, not that...Elvis Presley? Nah...oh well, I’ll think of something”  
The dog barked, in what seemed like amusement.  
“I will! I’ll have you know that I’m great at naming things!”  
The puppy gave him a doubtful look, how was that even possible?

—————————————————————————————————————————

It was two weeks after Mac’s funeral, and Jack had finally come up with a good name for the dog.

He had, in all honesty, not intended to take the puppy to work with him.  
He’d gotten a call from Matty to meet in the war room, so he’d said goodbye to his dog, and locked the door to the apartment. He’d barley gotten to the car when the puppy came barreling towards him.

Figuring he’d forgotten to close the door properly, he simply took him back upstairs, locked the puppy in his bedroom, locked the front door, and headed back out. The puppy escaped again. And now Jack was late. He sighed, and put the puppy in his car

“Ok you little Houdini, you can come with me then”  
He paused “Houdini...I like the sound of that, what do you think?”  
The little dog barked, sounding pleased. Jack chucked “ok, Houdini it is”


	2. Chapter 2

P.O.VMAC

As the car pulled up to the Phoenix foundation, Mac let out a bark of excitement.

He turned his head to look at Jack, who glanced back at him, shaking his head in amusement

“Dunno why you’re so excited, Houdini. I’ll probably get into trouble for this from Matty”

‘_Oh, Probably_’ Mac thought ‘_how else will you figure out who I am, though?_’

He barked in response and Jack laughed “why are you taking pleasure in this?” He climbed out of the car, and Mac clambered out after him, darting towards the entrance, barking for Jack to hurry up, they were already late.

Jack opened the door, and Mac darted down the hall towards the war room, Jack calling after him “Houdini stop!”

Mac didn’t listen, of course, swerving towards the entrance to the room, his paws slipped on the floor and he skidded Into the wall.

“I told you to stop, see what happens?” Jack asked, and Mac sent him what he hoped was an annoyed glare.

Apparently not, since Jack simply laughed, and walked into the room.

Mac followed closely behind.

“Jack” Matty said, exasperation clear in her voice “why did you bring a dog?”

Mac looked up at Jack, who gave him a look of betrayal “I told you this would happen”

He turned to Matty “I’m Sorry! But I couldn’t get him to stay home! He escaped my locked apartment TWICE. I was already running late!”

Mac ignored the rest of the conversation and trotted further into the room, he stopped as he spotted his pocket knife resting on the table, next to the bowl of paper clips that had been there for as long as he could remember.

“Whatcha lookin at little guy?” Bozer asked, crouching down next to him, Mac looked at him, then back at the table, and barked. “What’s his name, Jack?” Riley asked, coming over to crouch next to Bozer.

“Houdini” Jack answered, and Mac turned to look at him at the sound of his ‘name’

“See?” Jack said, pointing at Mac “he knows his name”

Mac huffed in frustration, Riley reached out to scratch his ears, and he responded by nudging her hand with his nose.

“So, what’d you call us in for, Matty?” Jack asked, and Mac perked up, staring intently at Matty, wondering what she had to say.

“We’ve tracked down Murdoc”

_Well, shit._

Mac let out a growl that ended in a loud bark, Jack walked over, and Scooped him up off the ground “Good. I want him dead” Jack said, anger clear in his voice.

“I’m way ahead of you” Matty replied “all US operatives have been instructed to keep an eye out”

Jack nodded “good”

Mac barked in approval

—————————————————————————————————————————-

P.O.VJACK.

Houdini had an interesting personality, that was for sure. The puppy always seemed like he was more human than animal, but maybe that was just because Jack was feeling lonely.

That didn’t explain how he knew to go to the war room when Jack brought him into work.

Or why the little dog seemed to hate Murdoc.

The little golden retriever knew things, that was for sure.

After that first day, Jack had started to bring Houdini to work with him all the time.

There was no point in trying to make him stay home, anyway.

Even Matty had grown fond of the dog, no longer even questioning it when Jack would bring him Into work.

Today, though, they were going somewhere different.

Today they were going to Bozer’s house, Jack hadn’t been there since Mac had died, over a month ago now.

Houdini sat in the front seat of Jack’s car, and began barking excitedly when Jack turned onto the street the house was on.

Almost like he knew where he was going.

But that was, of course, impossible. The little dog had never been to Bozer’s house.

Jack pulled into the driveway, and reached over to open the passenger side door to let Houdini out. The dog leapt to the ground and raced towards the front door, barking to be let in.

Jack chuckled as he walked up the driveway after him.

Bozer opened the door just before Jack reached it, and Houdini darted inside, Jack made it in just in time to see him disappear into...Mac’s old room.

——————————————————————————————————————————

P.O.VMAC

Mac darted down the hallway, launching himself into his old bedroom.

Now, if he could just find what he was looking for...there. On the wall.

His sheet on Morse code.

He wagged his tail in excitement, quickly memorizing what he needed.

He heard someone approaching the room, and turned to see Riley, he barked happily at the sight of her. As soon as he was sure she was paying attention, he began.

He started barking, a pattern of short and long barks, finishing the message and then repeating it again, and again. He saw her frown in confusion, before looking towards the wall.

He kept barking, and then, Riley froze.

She turned to look at him, eyes wide.

“....Mac?”

Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper.

He barked excitedly leaping onto his bed, and spinning around, tail wagging wildly.

She understood.

Riley looked over her shoulder “Jack! Bozer! Get in here!” Her voice was shaking.

Footsteps sounded in the hallway, the two appeared in the doorway.

“What is it Riley?” Bozer asked, Riley didn’t say anything, but pointed to the sheet on the wall, then back to Mac.

He got the message, and returned to barking the repeating pattern over and over again.

_Am Mac, am Mac, am Mac_.


	3. Chapter 3

P.O.VJACK

There was silence for a few long moments, and then

“Mac?” Jacks voice was small and vulnerable. The dog- Mac, launched himself into Jacks arms, hiding his face In the older agent’s shoulder, and let out a small whine.

Jack hugged the dog tightly, feeling relief, and confusion, fear, and concern all at once.

“I’ve missed you so much, kid” he murmured, as the tears that he had been holding in since the explosion finally began to fall.

He hadn’t thought he’d ever see his friend again. Certainly not like this. The whole situation was ridiculous, but he’d take it for what it was. A god damn miracle. He felt Mac lean back after a few long moments, and Jack smiled as he looked towards Bozer, Jack passed the small, fluffy agent over, laughing as Mac gave Bozer the same treatment he’d gotten.

Soon enough, it was Riley’s turn.

——————————————————————————————————————————

There were many tears, and lots of laughter. They eventually found themselves all sat together on the couch, Mac nestled between them, staring intently at the morse code sheet in Jacks hands. The tv playing faintly in the background.

“So how are we gonna tell Matty about this?” Bozer asked after a while, Mac looked at him, back at the sheet, and then let out a series of barks

_Surprise_

Jack threw his head back in laughter at that

“So, what do you propose, Mac? Just bring you into the war room and say ‘we found Mac?’” Jack asked, and Mac let out another set of barks, this one much shorter than the last.

_Yes_

Ok, well honestly, it was more like ‘_ye_’ but they understood well enough

Jack shook his head in amusement “Alright then, but for now, let’s work out some stuff, so you don’t have to bark out whole sentences, ok?”

Mac simply barked in affirmation, and Riley smiled “that bark could mean ‘Yes’, so you don’t always have to use Morse code” she paused “and I bet we could get you a massive keyboard or something to use in the war room”

Mac wagged his tail, and used his newly found ‘yes’ bark.

Jack cellphone pinged, he glanced at it and laughed once more “well, we’ll get to tell Matty sooner rather than later. She wants us in the war room”

—————————————————————————————————————————

P.O.VMAC

They all rode together back to Phoenix, Mac in his usual spot, while Riley and Bozer sat in the back seat. The sheet of Morse code, now taped to the dashboard, allowing them to talk, it was a pretty confusing conversation. Jack ended up translating most of His barks for the other two.

They pulled up to the building, Jack scooping Mac into his arms as they got out of the car

Mac made a disgruntled bark, but Jack simply laughed “I ain’t letting you outta my sight again, brother” Mac huffed, but rested his head on Jacks shoulder.

He was really happy that they’d understood.

“Hey Matty” Riley greeted their boss as the four entered the room

Mac lifted his head, and wriggled around to look at her

“what’s up?”

Matty pointed to the screen “One hour ago, Murdoc was apprehended. He’s being transported to a holding cell here as we speak. I figured you’d like to know”

Jack nodded “oh yeah I’d like to know. I’m dying to beat the crap outta that son of a-“ he trailed off as Mac grumbled “ooh yeah. Matty. Guess who we found?”

Matty frowned suspiciously “who?”

Jack, lifted Mac up like he was Simba from ‘The Lion King’

Mac barked “_Am Mac_!”

Jack nodded “he’s Mac”

Bozer shrugged “apparently reincarnation is real”

“And so now, Mac is a dog” Riley finished

Matty just stood there for a long moment, staring at the four of them, and then

“What the hell?!” She sounded angry

“Now Matty, I know it’s hard to believe, but you know we wouldn’t joke about this!” Jack said quickly. She glared at him, and Mac took the opportunity to let out another series of barks

“Matty”

She surprised at first, and then let out a sigh of resignation “Well stranger things have happened”

Mac barked in Affirmation.

She nodded slowly, taking a deep breath, and looked like she was about to say something, when the screen made a small beep.

She turned to look at it, and said “Murdoc is here” she turned back to look at the team “you know where to go”

——————————————————————————————————————————

As they entered the room that held Murdoc, Mac felt a low growl building in his throat.

“Easy there brother” Jack murmured so only Mac could hear.

Murdoc looked up from the table he was handcuffed to, a grin spreading across his face

“Oh hello you three” he said “I do hope you aren’t too upset about you’re friend”

Mac growled once more.

Murdoc raised an eyebrow “oh, so you’ve gotten yourself a dog”

“Screw you, Murdoc” Jack snapped “I should have killed you when I had the chance”

Mac couldn’t agree more.

“Oh yes you should have” Murdoc mused “but your little Boy Scout friend was always too good, wasn’t he?”

Jack looked like he was ready to murder him right then and there, as did Riley and Bozer, But As much as Mac hated to admit it to himself, Murdoc had useful information.

“_Jack_” Mac barked, and Jack sighed, looking down at his friend “you know you’re just proving his point, right?” Mac simply grunted in response.

“Go to hell, Murdoc” Jack hissed, before turning, and leaving the room, Mac still in his arms.

——————————————————————————————————————————


End file.
